Sputnik V safe and effective – Minister Anthony

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony says the Russian made Sputnik V vaccine is safe and effective, and he encourages the nation to inoculate themselves against Covid.

Thursday, the Minister said the vaccine was initially rated 94.1 per cent effective. However, with new population data, that figure has moved to 97 per cent.

Dr. Anthony was at the time responding to Opposition Leader, Hon. Joseph Harmon, who called on the Government to suspend the use of Sputnik V until its authenticity is verified. Mr.  Harmon however, did not produce any evidence to support his claims.

“So, there is no doubt about the efficacy of the vaccine, there is no doubt about the safety of the vaccine, this vaccine works and more recently, this vaccine has been working against all the variants we have seen so far,” Minister Anthony said.

World renown general medical journal, the Lancet has ranked the Sputnik V as one of the most effective against COVID-19 on the market. The vaccine is being used in 74 other countries where it has been approved for emergency use.

Dr Anthony said the Government is committed to preserving the safety of citizens. He said while the Sputnik V is yet to be approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Sinopharm vaccine, which Guyana has been using since the commencement of the immunisation campaign, was only WHO-approved last month.

The Minister said he and his family have taken the Russian vaccine as he is confident in the findings of the clinical trials and studies conducted.   Dr. Anthony said the Opposition Leader’s utterances about the safety and authenticity of the Sputnik V vaccine are not only ill-informed, but reckless and malicious.

“It was irresponsible of the Leader of the Opposition now to call on people in a sense not to take the vaccine because … he thinks the vaccine is fake.

Now, Mr. Harmon is not a medical person, he probably does not [have] much clue about anything pertaining to vaccines, yet he decides that the vaccine is not safe – hasn’t produced any evidence that they do not work, yet he decides that it is not safe.”

Minister Anthony said Sputnik V is being used in several Latin American countries including Chile, Argentina and Brazil. He said it was approved for emergency use in Guyana based on the findings in those countries, and by the Food and Drug Department.

Minister of Public Affairs within the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Kwame McCoy said the Opposition Leader’s remarks are yet another desperate attempt to score cheap political points, following the Coalition’s defeat at the March 2, 2020 elections. The Minister appeared alongside Minister Anthony and Minister of Labour, Hon Joseph Hamilton at the virtual press conference.

The Government maintains it will continue to use the vaccine as part of its COVID-19 immunisation campaign. To date, 224,853 persons or 46.2 per cent of the country’s adult population have received their first of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 94,243 persons or 19.4 per cent are fully inoculated.

Minister Anthony said this was possible because systems were put in place to secure vaccines. He said while the initial consignments of vaccines were donations from various regional and international partners, the Government procured the majority of vaccines.

He noted that the Government had approached the manufacturers of Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and several other countries to procure vaccines. However, the manufacturers indicated that they were unable to supply Guyana at the time.

“We had set ourselves a mission that we want to get our population immunised and so, to reach herd immunity we would have to get at least 500,000 persons immunised in Guyana.

So, the only options we had available was for us to secure vaccines using China, India and Russia.”

The Russian Direct Investment Fund was approached, but the Government was directed to a supplier from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Minister Anthony said it was after arrangements to purchase Sputnik V were concluded and an evaluation done, that the Government took steps to procure doses of Sinopharm.  

The Health Minister called for a collaborative effort to beat the pandemic. He urged persons to do their part and take their vaccines, as it would help Guyana to achieve herd immunity.